I’ll admit out of the gate the idiom of “Building Blocks” is overused, but at the same time overuse is usually a sign of accuracy or validation.
You can’t deny that the alphabet – or ABCs if you happen to be a pop music or canned spaghetti fan – is the ultimate building block.
Heck – they even make arguably the most common building blocks for kids with the letters right on them.
Probably the origin story for the term itself (ok – I looked it up, it isn’t, the ABC blocks are just an elusive double idiom – a didiom). Just to be clear, “didiom” isn’t a word. Yet.
But I digress.
With our return to the rudimentary elements to success with our “Summer School” theme, it seemed to make sense to outline our own high-density polyethylene A to Z. If you start this process hearing “Aunt Annie’s Alligator, A, a, A” in your head, you are a child of a very specific generation or your parents love Dr. Seuss.
So here it is – our own building blocks – or a few ABCs of ISCO and HDPE:
A – A.S.T.M.
The American Society of Testing and Materials – there have to be standards or rules or laws to develop standards on performance of materials and systems that govern the safety and proper use of said items or you have Dodge City without Marshall Dillon around (look it up if you need to), etc.
Additional words – Aquatherm, aggregate
B – Butt Fusion
Joining thermoplastic pipe or fittings by heating the contact ends and bringing them together under pressure to form a monolithic -or- homogeneous bond with strength equal or greater than the pipe itself
Additional words – bead, blogger (kidding, but he is kind of cool and worth knowing)
C – Culvert rehabilitation
One of ISCO’s HDPE markets – a culvert is a structure, typically constructed of reinforced concrete or corrugated metal pipe, that allows an active stream or a waterway to avoid an obstacle, typically under a roadway or railroad. Snap-Tite and Spirolite provide an HDPE rehab solution to failing culverts that stabilizes the structure and at the same time gives a no-dig, 50 to 100-year solution.
Additional words – corrosion resistance, coupling, campus energy, canal enclosure
D – Dimension Ratio
Commonly abbreviated to DR, it is the ratio of the outer pipe diameter to pipe minimum wall thickness. Standard Dimension Ratios (SDR) meet and ASTM International specified number series.
Additional words – durability, district energy, didiom, data centers, DataLogger
E – Electrofusion
A type of fusion used to join thermoplastic pipe and fittings that utilizes heating elements that are built-in to the fittings. The Highland Supercell Processor allows you to perform electrofusion with the power of a lithium-ion battery and due to its size and weight, in tight fitting and hard-to-reach places.
Additional words – extrusion welding, ethylene, EPC
F – Fabricated fittings
A constructed piece of HDPE pipe that is used to connect pipes or work as an accessory – i.e.: elbows, tees, reducers, wyes, end caps and saddles. You need one line to branch into two? Use a fitting. A 90-degree turn? Fitting. You get it.
Additional words – flow rate, flexibility, force main, fast flange, fusion
G – Golf Irrigation
The O.G. of ISCO markets and applications, an HDPE irrigation system was installed at Quail Chase Golf Course in Louisville in 1987. That is where it all began, and it continues to be one of the primary markets that ISCO manages, irrigating championship caliber courses across North America, including Valhalla Golf Club, owned by ISCO CEO Jimmy Kirchdorfer and three other partners – home to the 2024 PGA Championship.
Additional words – grout, gas, geothermal
H – High-Density Polyethylene
We would be crazy to offer a glossary without the actual building block itself – HDPE. A thermoplastic polymer produced from the monomer ethylene. It is essentially a plastic resin that is a product of ethylene and another hydrocarbon. We try not to go to Bill Nye on you here, but there is a high level of science involved in the HDPE industry.
Additional words – Hazen–Williams equation, Highland Supercell Processor
I – I.D.
The interior diameter of HDPE pipe. Pretty simple. I thought we’d give you a break from the science.
Additional words – iSeries, Insights, idiom
J – Joint
The connection between two pieces of HDPE pipe or a piece of pipe and a fitting. Butt-fused, electro-fused, flange, saddle-fused, socket-fused and Spike Lee are types of joints.
Additional words – jobsite
K – Kirchdorfer
The name synonymous with HDPE and ISCO. In 1962, founder Jim Kirchdorfer, Sr. was running his family’s hardware store in the heart of Louisville, Ky. when he recognized a need and developed a solution. A long-time devotee to the game of golf, he was able to parlay his love of the game into a business specializing in underground golf course irrigation. Eventually Mr. Kirchdorfer’s sons Jimmy and Mark took over the reins and guided ISCO to its current unprecedented heights.
Additional words – Kingman
L – Landfill
Part of the solid waste management system, it is not a question of “if” HDPE is needed for a landfill, but rather how much? Another primary market for HDPE due to its durability, leak-free nature and corrosion resistance, there are two specific applications for HDPE in landfills: collecting and diverting leachate from the landfill into a treatment facility, and diverting methane to a collection site where it can be converted into new energy.
Additional words – large diameter pipe, leak-free
M – Marine
Another market for HDPE, which includes floating docks. HDPE is ideal for this application due to its durability, superior resistance to corrosion, weather and UV, as well as its leak-free construction, allowing for high buoyancy.
Additional words – mining, municipal, McElroy, MJ adaptor
N – Nuclear
HDPE has evolved into an ideal material for safety related shutdown systems at nuclear power plants. Traditional steel is conducive to tuberculation and corrosion, whereas HDPE is resistant to those threats. In addition, there are typically robust requirements when it comes to seismic resistance. HDPE’s flexibility helps meet those requirements.
Additional words – non-pressure pipe
O – OD
The outside diameter of HDPE pipe. If you have been reading this in alpha order, you might have guessed that one. Well done – and thanks.
Additional words – outfall, oil and gas
P – PE-RT
Polyethylene of Raised Temperature resistance. It is 4710 HDPE pipe that has additives added to the base resin that allow the pipe to handle pressure applications at elevated temperatures. You have all of the inherent benefits of HDPE pipe and fittings, that can handle pressure ratings up to 100 psi at 180°F with no reduction in design life. Applications for the use of PE-RT include district heating and cooling, radiant heating and cooling systems, hot and cold-water plumbing distribution and high-temperature industrial, mining, oil and gas gathering applications.
Additional words – pipe bursting, P.P.I., pressure pipe, pulp and paper
Q – Quail Chase
In 1987 Quail Chase became the first a golf course in the U.S. to exclusively use HDPE. At that time founder Jim Kirchdorfer, Sr. had to manufacture the fittings for his project because they were not yet made by any other company.
Additional words – Quality Assurance Test
R – Riverport
While the corporate HQ for ISCO is nestled on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Louisville, 15 miles downstream to the south is a massive warehouse and fabrication shop in an industrial portion of town known as “Riverport”. It is there, like the 37 other ISCO locations in the US and Canada, where the sausage gets made.
Additional words – resin
S – Snap-Tite and Spirolite
We discussed these in the letter C and Culvert Rehab. Snap-Tite is exclusively used for culvert rehabilitation, while Spirolite is more versatile. It can be used for water conveyance, sanitary sewer, manholes, lift stations, tanks and industrial waste, in addition to larger diameter culvert rehab.
Additional words – socket fusion, saddle fitting, snowmaking, seismic resistance
T – Thermoplastic
A polymer that has the property of being able to be melted down to become pliable and re-solidified when cooled nearly indefinitely. ISCO works with the thermoplastics HDPE, PE-RT and Aquatherm.
Additional words – tuberculation, tracer wire
U – UV degradation
This does not necessarily apply to HDPE, but that is a good thing. UV radiation and the resulting heat can break down thermoplastics and other piping materials, but UV absorbers are added to HDPE to eliminate any issues with UV degradation. Almost like a piping SPF 100 sunscreen.
Additional words – UV absorbers
V – Valhalla
The CEO of ISCO Jimmy Kirchdorfer and his family have a long history with golf, and the legacy continued when he led an investing group to purchase Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky in 2022. One of the premiere courses in the country, Valhalla has hosted the 2008 Ryder Cup, two Senior PGA Championships (’04 & ’11) and will host the PGA Championship in May of 2024 – the fourth time it has been played at Valhalla (’96-00-14). The course was converted to HDPE irrigation in 2011, and 2023 saw numerous renovations ahead of the PGA, including a new water feature on the signature island green at the 13th hole.
Additional words – void, virgin HDPE
W – Weld
Typically associated with metals, technically thermoplastics are welded together. More commonly referred to as fusion, they are essentially one and the same.
Additional words – working pressure rating
X – X
A symbol that notates a transitional fitting from HDPE to another piping system – HDPE x PVC MJ adaptor.
Additional words – give us a break – it is the letter X for crying out loud. We aren’t music, chemistry or a printer, we were lucky to find one. We will get back to you when we construct a xylophone out of HDP….wait – that would be awesome.
Additional words – xylophone
Y – Yellow
No, not a Coldplay reference, but rather the color that designates HDPE that conveys gas. In some cases, it is black with a yellow stripe and sometimes all yellow. In the gas distribution market when gas lines are buried, yellow tracer wire is used to identify the pipe location.
Additional words – yield strength
Z – Zero
I guess 25 of 26 gets you in the Hall of Fame or atop the Olympic podium in just about anything, so I don’t feel too badly that I found zero things related to HDPE and ISCO that begin with Z.
Unless you want an in-depth study of the Nobel Prize winning German chemist Karl Ziegler, who in 1953 developed a catalytic system based on titanium halides and organoaluminium compounds that worked at even milder conditions than the Phillips catalyst. By the end of the 1950s both the Phillips- and Ziegler-type catalysts were being used for high-density polyethylene (HDPE) production. In the 1970s, the Ziegler system was improved by the incorporation of magnesium chloride. Catalytic systems based on soluble catalysts, the metallocenes, were reported in 1976 by Walter Kaminsky and Hansjörg Sinn. The Ziegler- and metallocene-based catalysts families have proven to be very flexible at copolymerizing ethylene with other olefins and have become the basis for the wide range of polyethylene resins available today, including very-low-density polyethylene and linear low-density polyethylene. (thank you Wikipedia)
If that is your thing.
If so – 26 for 26.
Boom.
Rest in Peace Ziegs.